CWA Convention Spotlights Organizing Wins; Union's Strategy Has Made it Labor's Most Effective Progr

For More Information, Jeff Miller or Candice Johnson, CWA Communications, 202-434-1168, cell 202-415-6566

Las Vegas – CWA's organizing successes – especially in right-to-work states and among law enforcement and other public workers – were the focus of Tuesday's convention session, as delegates recognized local unions and officers for their success in building the union.

CWA has the labor movement's most active and successful organizing program, especially in the South. Since delegates last met in 2007, some 4,000 AT&T Mobility and Internet workers (in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama, Iowa and New Hampshire) joined CWA.

Other workers joining CWA include probation officers in California and providers for developmentally disabled adults in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  

CWA President Larry Cohen pointed out that AT&T Mobility has agreed to honor its workers' rights to form a union by living up to neutrality and card check majority signup provisions. More than 40,000 AT&T Mobility workers have joined the union since that agreement.

At the convention, Cohen presented the District 3's team of local union organizers with the 2008 President's award for outstanding achievement.

Over the past year, District 3's organizing team worked together to help 3,000 new CWA members gain collective bargaining rights. The organizers are locally based throughout the Southeast, plus Puerto Rico. Following last year's convention, their first successful campaign was the statewide effort that brought CWA membership to more than 1,100 retail sales workers at AT&T Mobility, organizing workers in 175 locations.

After Florida, the team helped another 1,300 retail sales workers in North Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky. Most recently, more than 350 workers at the New Era Cap operation in Demopolis, Alabama joined CWA; that campaign involved coordination with CWA District 1 and Local 14177 in upstate New York, which also represents New Era workers.